National Trust members object to charity’s ‘woke agenda’
NATIONAL TRUST members have vented their fury at the charity’s board of directors, accusing it of undertaking “a witch hunt into the lives of past property owners” and pursuing a “woke agenda”.
One member condemned the trust for “defaming” the memory of Winston Churchill in a recent report linking trust properties to colonialism and slavery, while another said she was cancelling her membership because the trust was now too “political”.
The news came as a group of 26 Conservative MPS wrote to The Daily Telegraph saying “history must neither be sanitised nor rewritten to suit ‘ snowflake’ preoccupations” ahead of a debate on the future of the trust in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The trust’s decision in September to publish a 115-page report into links between its properties and slavery and colonialism was one of the main themes of the 1,000 questions submitted by trust members at the weekend’s virtual annual general meeting. The first 20 minutes of the meeting on Saturday were dominated by the row as questions from angry members were read out by the trust’s secretary, Paul Boniface.
One member, “Diana from Leicester”, asked: “Why is the trust spending ill-afforded sums on researching slavery within houses and generously gifted properties and land? The majority of members just want to see beautiful houses and gardens, not have others’ opinions pushed down their throats.”
Another member added: “Your members wish to enjoy the properties gifted in good faith without having to endure the unfortunate woke agenda of the modern trust management.”
In the report, Churchill’s Chartwell residence in Kent was highlighted because he was a former colonial secretary. “Sally from Windsor” accused the trust of a “defamation of Churchill’s name in connection with slavery”, adding: “Why do this about a great man who saved this country from defeat in the Second World War?”
Another member, “Carole from Boston”, asked the board: “Why doesn’t the trust concentrate on their upkeep and stop being political?”
Hilary Mcgrady, the trust’s directorgeneral, said: “The majority of our visitors just want to enjoy our properties ... but there will be people who want to know more, and we need to be able to respond to that as well. It is in no way about shaming anybody. The money we strongly believe has been spent well.”
On the reference to Churchill in the report, she added: “There was a connection – he was secretary of state for the colonies. I trust the public to be able to hold all of that information and come to their own conclusion.”